Mission lesson
Point the spacecraft. Change the power.
Stage 1 of 7
Mission
Who you are, what you are finding out, and what success looks like.
Showing stage 1 of 7: Mission
Mission
Your spacecraft runs on sunlight. Its solar panels only make electricity when light reaches them, and how much reaches them depends on which way the spacecraft is facing. Your team will test two ways of pointing it, compare what the Twin produces, and recommend one — saying clearly what your evidence does and does not prove.
Does the way a spacecraft faces change how much electricity its solar panels make?
- Your role
- Spacecraft power engineer
- Objective
- Choose an orientation strategy by comparing how pointing changes modeled solar-energy collection.
- Success looks like
- Run both orientations, select traceable evidence, recommend one, and state what the software evidence cannot prove.
Learning outcomes · Grade 6
What you should be able to do, and the evidence that shows it.
- 01By the end of this mission, the learner will be able to describe what the spacecraft's solar-generation trace does over the modelled run, and demonstrate this by pointing to a named feature of the plotted evidence.
- 02By the end of this mission, the learner will be able to explain in everyday cause-and-effect language why turning a solar panel can change how much sunlight it receives, and demonstrate this by writing a prediction before the Twin is run.
- 03By the end of this mission, the learner will be able to recognise that the numbers shown are produced by a computer model rather than by a real spacecraft, and demonstrate this by stating one thing the mission does not prove.
Preparation
Before we start
A quick check of what you already know. There is no score.
The idea behind the mission
Two runs, one difference: which way the spacecraft is pointing. Everything else stays the same, so anything that changes is caused by the pointing.
Sunlight hits a panel at an angle
A solar panel makes the most electricity when sunlight arrives straight on. Turn the panel away and the same sunlight is spread across more surface, so less of it becomes power. Turning the spacecraft turns its panels.
Predict before you run
Before you run anything: which way of pointing do you think will make more electricity, and why?
Which way of pointing will make more electricity — and why do you think so?
At least 20 characters — say what you expect and why.
Readiness
This is a local preparation check. It is not Challenge qualification and creates no official attempt.
- Mission objective and success criterion reviewed: not done yet
- Preparation diagnostic answered: not done yet
- Mission theory reviewed: not done yet
- Prediction recorded: not done yet
The set-up you will run
This is the set-up you will run. It is fixed on purpose, so everyone in the class is reading the same evidence.
Baseline case
Reference hold
- Write your prediction first — running before predicting removes the point.
- Use the two set-ups provided, so the only difference is the pointing.
- The energy and battery numbers come from a model, not from a real spacecraft.
Units stay attached to every result: angles in degrees (°), time in seconds (s), power in watts (W), energy in watt-hours (Wh), battery state in percent (%), and elevation in degrees (°) where available.
Finish every preparation item above first; then this can be confirmed.
Official qualification: false. This acknowledgement stays in this browser.
Operate
Readiness required
Complete every preparation requirement, then confirm readiness before operating the Twin.
Run the first way of pointing, then the second. Same orbit, same spacecraft, same length of time — only the pointing changes.
Baseline
Reference hold
- Reference hold: not run in this session yet
Evidence
Run a Digital Twin case first
The results fill in once the Twin has produced evidence. The decision, limits and knowledge check can be read now.
Read the evidence
Look at what changed between the two runs, and what stayed the same. The energy and incidence lines are the clearest signals.
Run the Twin to produce evidence.
Complete
Readiness required
Finish the required run or comparison, select evidence, make a decision and answer the knowledge check. Then reflect here and finalize.
Completion records the work you did; it does not mean mastery, qualification, or an official grade.
Reflect
How did your recommendation change after you compared the two runs, and what would you measure before using it on real hardware?
At least 20 characters. Editing this or any source work after completion invalidates the local record.
Your formative result
Revisit the mission evidence
Formative · not an official grade
No formative evidence has been recorded yet.
Formative band: revisit. Any formative band may complete the mission. Official grade: none.
Finish the required run or comparison, select evidence, make a decision, answer the formative assessment, and complete your reflection.
Recognition
Lane C provides a private local-practice record. Verified recognition remains a separate Platform workflow.
Complete the mission first
Finalize the mission to create a local-practice record on this device.
Finalize the mission to create a local-practice record on this device.
Home mission
Home mission: find the angle
Draw a solar panel twice: once facing the Sun straight on, once turned away. Label which one you think collects more light. Then write one question you would want answered before trusting this model for a real mission.